The present invention relates to a spraying device designed to be fitted onto collapsible and non-collapsible spreaders mounted on agricultural machines such as sprayers.
Spreaders mounted on wheeled agricultural sprayers are generally composed of a feed line supplying a series of nozzles designed to spread, by spraying a liquid which may be a fertilizer, a pesticide, a fungicide, or other fluids such as insecticides. These nozzles are usually of such a type, that those appropriate for use with respect to one product or crop are inappropriate for, and therefore cannot be used with respect to another product or crop. Because of this lack of interchangeability of uses, all the nozzles must be frequently replaced and the operation by which this is done is time consuming. In addition this situation compels the operator to have available a large number of nozzles of different calibers or types requiring a substantial financial outlay and seriously complicating equipment storage.
To solve this problem it is here proposed that the well-known principle of cock valves or gate valves of the selector type be used. In this case it is sufficient to equip each arm of the valve or nozzle holder with a given type of nozzle for the product to be spread, supplied by the feed line, to be distributed by any one of the nozzles selected. This manually controlled selection, enabling dispensers of various types to be supplied with liquid at constant pressure, is also well known, for example in domestic plumbing where the selector enables a changeover to be made from the bathtub faucet to the shower spray head by a simple manual action; the dispensers, of different types, remain unchanged but are simply activated and inactivated.
The invention thus consists of applying this known principle of a selector valve in a novel manner to spreaders such that one may choose the nozzle type to be used for the type of jet desired according to the nature of the crop to be treated, without changing the nozzle in question. To facilitate selection of the type of nozzle necessary, control may advantageously be effected from the driver's seat such that the operator need not descend from the vehicle to manipulate each nozzle-holder individually.
With this concept, and according to a preferred embodiment, this spraying device for spreaders is designed to be mounted on agricultural vehicles, in particular sprayers, and is characterized by including the nozzle-holder of the present invention which is composed of an annular body with several arms, each of which is equipped with a spray nozzle, said annular body having an axial opening for receiving a plug which provided with a single axial passageway communicating with a radial duct, said duct being capable of being brought selectively opposite any one radial passageway of said annular body each of which is aligned with one of the nozzles, and said plug being supplied by a feed line.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the nozzle-holder body is able to rotate with respect to the plug, which is fixed, such that the desired nozzle type is selected by angular displacement of said annular body.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the nozzle-holder is romote-controlled from the seat of the vehicle on which the device is mounted.
One object of the present invention is to provide a nozzle holder, to be used on a vehicular mounted spraying device, which conveys a plurality of nozzles.
Another object of this invention is to provide a nozzle holder, to be used on a vehicularly mounted spraying device, which may be oriented so that different nozzles may be selected for spraying.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a nozzle holder in which the selection of the nozzle to be used for spraying may be made by romote means.
A further object of this invention is to provide in a spraying device to be mounted on a vehicle a nozzle holder having an anti-flame device to prevent leakage of the fluid.
A spraying device constructed according to this invention is shown as a non-limitative example in the figures attached.